How It Feels In The Morning
by Nix1978
Summary: Derek & Emily contemplate their dating habits over a bottle of wine...
1. Chapter 1

**This will probably be a two-shot… inspired by a prompt given to me from a follower on Twitter. Thanks to Sara Nublas for the little pointers. Hope you enjoy…..**

The two profilers sat giggling in the dimly lit bar of a hotel in Detroit that had been home for the past four days. Finally the case was over and they could relax.

"Emily, Sergio cannot be a surrogate for a guy forever." JJ laughed looking over to her friend tracing the rim of the large wine glass in front of her.

"What?"

A deep voice behind the two women caused them both to whip their heads round to see Morgan looking at them with a perplexed raised eyebrow.

JJ looked at Emily and smirked.

"Nothing." Emily waved away, not taking her attention away from the drink.

"Ok, if you say so." Morgan muttered casually, "So what can I get you ladies to drink?"

"Oh nothing for me. I'm beat." JJ sighed.

Emily shook her head, "Come on JJ, it's early and the jet's not leaving until eleven tomorrow."

JJ let out a small laugh looking from her slightly tipsy friend up to Morgan, "Someone's in the mood for a party I think."

He looked down to Emily and smiled, "Well a party for one is never fun. I better stay and keep you company."

Without turning to face him she replied, "Ok, seeing as you're catching up, the first few rounds are on you."

He could hear the cheeky smile in her voice.

"Whatever the lady wants." Morgan said, setting himself down on the stool next to her.

"Ok guys. I'm off to bed.…" JJ started as she stood up and went to walk away, "I'll have the aspirin and coffee ready in the morning."

As JJ disappeared, Morgan signalled to the barman, "Bottle of whatever that is please." He said pointing to the glass of red wine Emily was nursing, "….and one more glass."

He then swivelled on the bar stool to face the brunette, "So, what were you talking to JJ about before I came in? Sergio is your cat right?"

She glanced at him with an embarrassed smile and then looked back to the glass of red liquid in front of her, "Nothing….." She sighed.

He raised his hands in surrender, "Ok, ok, if you don't want to tell me….."

Taking another sip of her wine she looked at him and he just raised his eyebrows back at her.

"You'll just think it's stupid." She said shaking her head.

He still said nothing, just shrugged his shoulders continuing to stare at her with a smirk. She hated when he did this. Offering her an ear when he knew she needed it. Then pretending not to be bothered that she wouldn't confide in him, when she knew he was.

After sitting in stubborn silence for a minute or so, Emily finally gave in, "We were talking about dating…." She relented.

"Ok." Morgan said, nodding at her, willing her to carry on.

"A long time ago I was talking to JJ about Mick Rawson. He gave me his number. She said I should call him."

The mention of Rawson's name earned a grimace from Morgan, which Emily only acknowledged with a small smirk and continued, "I said I basically couldn't start anything with him because of our work schedules and joked I should get a cat instead and give up on dating…." She paused looking down to the bar laughing to herself.

"…..And you got the cat." He said chuckling.

"How pathetic am I?"

He nodded his head slowly, "Pretty pathetic."

"Oi!" She said turning and jabbing him in his stomach.

"Ok, go easy, you didn't let me finish."

"Go on then." She said looking at him quizzically.

"I was going to say, about as pathetic as me."

"Eh?" She scrunched her face at him.

"Guess when my last date was."

She shook her head, "I have no idea."

"Guess."

"I don't know… couple of weeks ago?"

A blast of air escaped his nose as a sarcastic chuckle passed his lips, "Not even close. It's been well over… well months. So long I can't exactly remember."

"Really?" She said with genuine surprise.

In reality though she shouldn't have been that surprised. She knew he'd spent several of the past few months grieving for _her_ and hunting down Ian Doyle. But she'd been back five months now and things appeared pretty much back to normal… well almost.

"You think I date a lot?" He queried.

"I just can't imagine Derek Morgan going without ... _female __company_ for long."

In truth, Emily had no idea of the dating habits of Morgan. Sure, people joked about the amount of women that he dated and he had lived off that reputation since she joined the BAU, but over the last few years she'd seen very little evidence of 'ladies man Derek Morgan'. She figured he just kept it to himself….. Exactly the way she did.

"May be the old Derek Morgan didn't. But not now." He stated.

"Why?"

"Got boring." He said with a shrug.

"So walking into a bar and taking your pick of whichever _'honey'_ you want to take home got boring?" She said laughing.

"Oh ha ha…." He said sarcastically, "…..Actually, yes it did….. Well actually, the last time I woke up next to someone who I barely knew the name of kind of got me thinking. Gets to the point where you want more right?"  
>He wasn't sure whether he was telling her that's what he wanted or asking her for reassurance….<p>

"And you don't have the time for that." She stated.

"No. _You_ know that."

She nodded in agreement. One thing she had always admired, and quite frankly never understood, was JJ's ability to maintain a relationship _and_ raise a child in their line of work. Emily barely had time to do her grocery shopping, something evidenced by the contents of her fridge… half a bottle of wine, sour milk and a block of mouldy cheese.

She pondered that thought for a second and then turned back to Morgan,

"What about that Tamara Barnes?"

She was feeling brave. The wine slowly breaking down the walls that were usually standing strong…. For both of them.

Morgan's eyes widened in slight shock at the mention of her name, "You knew about her?"

"Are you kidding me? You do remember who works with us right? A certain gorgeous, blond techie who cannot keep her mouth shut."

He closed his eyes and shook his head smiling, "That woman…."

"So. What happened to her?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "She was nice enough. I probably shouldn't have gone there though should I?"

"What, because she was related to a victim?"

"Yeah. Not my best idea. I guess I just needed…. I don't know, I just needed someone at the time. It was when I was acting unit chief….."

He suddenly checked himself, not ready to discuss or admit to his insecurities from back then. He shook his head and continued, "… Anyway enough of that. We're supposed to be talking about you… Well done for deflecting the topic of conversation off you missy."

She grinned at him that beautiful toothy grin, looking pretty pleased with herself. That was until of course he uttered the next few words, "So, come on then. What's up with the dating thing?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"When was your last date?" He asked, nudging her playfully with his elbow.

She paused before answering him, "A few weeks before…. You know before all the Doyle stuff started."

Doyle's name still bought a sense of awkwardness and intensity to the atmosphere and he didn't want tonight to be about that, so blatantly ignoring the mention of him, he continued with his line if questioning.

"So, you couldn't hook back up with the mystery man then again?"

"He was no mystery. I only saw him twice. The first date I didn't get close enough to notice the bad breath…."

"But you did on the second?" He said raising his eyebrows at her.

She looked him in the eyes and laughed, but he saw a slight twinge of sadness in her face.

"So you got your sights on anyone else?"

As soon as he asked the question, he felt himself tense up in anticipation of the answer, not sure he wanted to hear it and uncertain of why he had just reacted that way.

"Not all of us can take our pick Derek." She said tiredly.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head, "You have no idea do you?"

"About what?"

"The effect you have when you walk into a room."

"What are you talking about?"

"Listen, you think _I_ can take my pick… _you_ can take your pick. Believe me."

"Whatever Derek. You don't know what you're on about."

"Yeah I do. I'm a guy and I know what guys are thinking. You could have anyone you wanted."

As soon as the last syllable left his lips he turned away and looked down to his drink.

She continued to look at him, a little lost for what to say next, but relaxed as she saw him shift uncomfortably on his stool, probably a little embarrassed at how that last sentence came out.

He felt himself burn up a little and could see her out of the corner of his eye staring at him. He then saw the smile creep across her face, "So….." She started, him hearing the playfulness in her voice straight away, "…if you saw me in a bar, would you chat me up?"

He turned slowly to face her and chuckled, shook his head and took a deep breath, "Probably not."

She opened her mouth and widened her eyes, the sarcasm not lost on him.

"Do you know why?" He said leaning in toward her.

"No. Enlighten me." She said, closing the gap a little more.

"Because, Emily Prentiss, I would think you were well out of my league."

She scrunched her nose, "What?"

"I'd know just by looking at you that you're not the kind of girl to fall for a cheesy Derek Morgan line."

"What and using anything but a line would be too much like hard work?"

"For the old Derek Morgan, yes."

"And the new?"

"Uh uh…." He said shaking his head, "You're not turning this into a Morgan interrogation again….. My turn."

She couldn't help but giggle, "Go on then. Ask away."

"So, if your _work __schedules_… "He said mimicking inverted commas in the air, "….. weren't so conflicting, would you have gone on a date with Rawson?"

"May be." She said shrugging her shoulders.

"You serious?" He exclaimed.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I wouldn't have thought he was your type."

"What a hot British dude with a sexy accent, badge and gun… to quote JJ."

She laughed.

"That's not your type." He said as a matter of fact.

"How do you know what my type is?"

"Well if Rawson is your type, obviously I don't have a clue. But I didn't think it would be him."

"He did save my life."

"Er I've saved your life a tonne of times." He said playfully.

"True." She smiled.

"So let me get this right, your type, is a guy with a gun and a badge, that saves your life and has the same work schedule as you?"

"A sexy one… yeah." She added.

"Ok." He smiled at her, eyes widening.

She shook her head and scrunched her eyes, realising what she had just confessed to.

She opened them to find him still grinning at her, "Right….." She started picking her glass up and holding it out to him, "…Enough of that. There's drinking to be done."

Without breaking their gaze, he took hold of the half empty bottle and poured her a full glass and topped up his own.

"Of course." He smiled, clinking his glass with hers, "To us…. Two lousy daters, propping up a bar in a small town in Detroit…. May it long continue."

"I'll drink to that." She said, taking a big sip of the red liquid.

Another bottle and half later, they walked out of the elevator and down the corridor on the fifth floor of the hotel. As they approached Morgan's room, Emily slowed down expecting him to stop, but he kept walking,

"This is your room right?" She asked.

He stopped and turned, "Yeah, but I'm walking you to your door."

"I think I can find it Morgan."

"I know…. Stop being so…." He pursed his lips in sarcastic annoyance.

"So what?"

"So independent."

She went to open her mouth to protest but he put one finger on her lips, "Shhhh…" Escaped quietly from him, "Come on."

As they got to Emily's door she stopped and turned to face him, "Well, thank you kind sir for walking me the twenty paces from your door to mine." She said with a mischievous grin.

"My pleasure…. Goodnight Emily." He said as he took one of her hands in his, lifted it upward and leant in to kiss it. "Sweet dreams princess."

He winked and turned.

She just stood, wide eyed, watching him walk away. She wasn't sure what that just was. Was he playing with her, or was he just being Derek Morgan? She cocked her head to the side, somehow this making it easier to think in her wine induced hazy state. Could what she needed be right under her nose? She wasn't sure, but all she knew was she was feeling a fire in her stomach she hadn't felt for far too long to think about without getting depressed and Derek Morgan may have just charmed the hell out of her.

She shook herself out of her mini trance…. _No __Emily, __this __is __the __wine __talking. __Get __to __bed __and __sleep __it __off_…. And with that she unlocked her door and slinked into her room.

Morgan threw his shirt on the solitary chair in the corner of his room and went into the bathroom. His head was whirling a little from the wine, so he splashed cold water on his face and dabbed it dry with a towel.

Walking back toward the bed he just about heard a quiet, hesitant knock at the door…...

**To be continued very soon if you want to know what happens…..**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of reviews from the first chapter, especially considering I wasn't even sure of posting it… thank you all so much. It really does make me happy. So here is the next chapter. I'm sure you can guess what is going to happen, but I just hope it lives up to your expectations. Thanks once again to Sara Nublas for her beta'ing skills**

He opened the door to find Emily looking at him as if _she_ was surprised to see him, which seeing as she had knocked his door, earned a confused expression from Morgan…. "Emily?"

"Yeah. Um…. I was just….."

She paused. Her eyes wandered down his bare chest, a mistake she never would have made if sober.

"Emily?"

"Coffee… "She said, her eyes darting back up to meet his, "…..Do you want coffee? My head's spinning and I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

"And you think coffee will help you sleep?" He chuckled.

"Oh it doesn't matter. Forget it. Sorry. You get some sleep." She turned to walk away.

Morgan immediately took a step out of the room and grabbed her arm, "Emily, wait. Come in. I'll get you some coffee." His voice was deep and soft, well aware their team mates were sleeping just the other side of the walls.

Emily walked in first and Morgan locked the door behind them. As he turned he felt his naked back brush something. He could have sworn it felt like skin but it couldn't be… When he made the full turn, he realised his instinct was right however. There was Emily stood in front of him, looking him straight in the eyes. Her fingers were no longer on him though, they were back hanging down by her side, but that momentary touch had left his skin tingling.

"You said that if you saw me in a bar you'd think I was out of your league….." She stated.

He just stared back and gave a light shrug of the shoulders, not sure if she was asking him something or if he were supposed to respond at all.

"But you know me. Do you still think that?" She continued.

The playfulness had gone and she was deadly serious.

He let his head fall back slightly as if trying to get more air and looked at the ceiling for a couple of seconds. Letting his gaze fall back down to meet hers, he exhaled, "How am I supposed to answer that Emily? I mean, what is the right answer?"

"Ok, forget that for a second. What would it be about me that would make you think that? From just looking at me?"

She was staring at him intently and he saw a glimmer of insecurity in her eyes.

"Emily, why are you asking this?" His voice tiredly raspy.

"I just want to understand what people see when they look at me."

"Ok….." He started, his voice deep, but gentle "…You look…" He paused suddenly feeling the pressure,

"Stuck up?" She interrupted.

"No." He was quick to say, "You can put that out of your mind. I was going to say beautiful, classy, worldly, confident…. You want me to go on?"

Shaking her head, she asked softly, "And that stuff puts guys off?"

"Putting guys off is not the right phrase Emily. It far from puts us off. It's just scary I guess."

"Scary?"

"Yeah, you never think you're going to be good enough."

"So you don't try." She concluded.

He stared into her big, almost sad eyes. He could never have imagined Emily Prentiss would be so insecure or unsure when it came to men. She rarely revealed this layer of her vulnerability. But then he recalled something…..

"Emily, you remember when you first joined the BAU you told me about a date you screwed up?"

She nodded, smiling. It was the first time she had felt truly accepted by one of the team. The first time he had let her know in a round about way he was there for her…. 'A_nytime__'_ he had said. She'd never forget that. Fitting in and being accepted was something she had craved all of her life.

Morgan continued, "Well you didn't screw it up. He just didn't understand you. Guys generally like to feel they're the one who knows the most. You may as well have been talking to him in a foreign language."

"You understood me." She stated.

"I know you."

"You didn't then."

"True…. Lucky coincidence then, I guess that we'd read the same books. Shame it wasn't me on that date." He chuckled.

"Well it wouldn't have been you on the date because _you_ would never have asked me out in the bar remember?" And she laughed, the mood lightening.

He looked into her eyes with warmth and he wandered what was truly going on behind them. Over the years these kinds of conversations had occurred occasionally between them, and as difficult and scary as they were to begin with, they always ended up being some of the best exchanges he had with anyone, because it dug deep. They could be nothing but honest with each other in these moments.

"Ok... " He started with a grin creeping across his face, "…..let's turn this around then. What would you think of me if you saw me in a bar for the first time?"

"I don't know because I've never seen you in _action_." She said arching her eyebrows with a smile.

"Action?" He questioned.

"Yeah, using one of those _Derek __Morgan_ lines."

"The ones I _used_ to use you mean." He corrected.

"Whatever… Why don't you try one now?"

Her sweet smile turned into a playful one.

"What?"

"I wanna hear one of these lines. Let's test your theory."

He gazed at her quizzically, squinting his eyes slightly.

He took a step closer and shook his head slowly.

"Why not?" She whined, trying to hide her smirk.

He leaned in so their lips were a breath apart, "Because you, Emily Prentiss, are far too clever and far too good for a _line__…_. How about I just be me, and you just be you. Like we know." He whispered.

Before she had chance to respond, he placed his lips softly on hers. When there was no apparent objection from her, he deepened the kiss. He could still taste the wine on her lips and as her fingers lightly touched his naked skin it took all his strength not to shudder. He felt her palms trace round to his back, but all of a sudden her hands clamped on each side of his waist and she pulled out of the kiss, staring at him.

"What…..?" He asked panicking slightly that he had done the wrong thing. "…That's not what you came here for?"

Her eyes glanced upward, "Well, yeah I did" She said with a coy smile, "But of course we're not supposed to date right…..? Being on the same team. FBI rules and all that."

"So you don't want to do this?" He queried, somewhat confused by her apparent rapid changes of mind.

"No I do. I'm just…." She paused.

"Scared?" He said, giving an understanding smile.

"I guess… It's just complicated isn't it?"

"What is _this_? He asked.

She shook her head, "I don't know." She sounded a little lost.

"How about we don't call _this _anything right now."

"No pressure….?" She whispered.

He shook his head and snaked his arms around her waist pulling her in, "No pressure." He nuzzled into her neck.

"And you're ok with that?" She whispered, turning her head so she was face to face with him.

"Whatever you want Emily." He mumbled.

She closed the gap between them and connected her lips with his. He guided her backwards until eventually she fell back on to the bed.

The kiss between them was now more frantic. They were done talking, or at least Morgan thought he was until one thought popped into his head. He lifted his body so he hovered above her, "You're not drunk are you?"

She laughed, "No I am not….. Just warmed up nicely."

With a grin he lowered himself back down and took up where he left off. Within a minute their clothes were shed on the floor. Morgan thought about taking it slow…. Savouring every second. But that just wasn't possible. Not with the way she looked at him. Not with the way she touched him. He remembered seeing that look in her eyes a hundred times before and he'd always wandered if that was what she had wanted and now he knew. Now he was sure. She had wanted this for as long as he had… If he weren't so busy he would kick himself for not having the guts to do this before, but in all honesty, they had both been as gutless as each other.

It was frantic. It was fast. It was raw. Six years of desire became a few minutes of desperation that left hem both breathless and devoid of the ability to speak by the end. They lay side by side in the dark, moonlit room, staring at the ceiling in silence.

Emily was the first to break that silence and she rolled over to face him, just close enough that her toes touched his and she placed a feather light kiss on his shoulder.

"You never answered my question before." Her voice was soft and as quiet as a mouse.

"What question?" He groaned.

"About whether you still think that I'm out of your league…. And there is a right answer by the way."

He laughed and winked at her, "Ok, now this is scary."

"Go on" She said, gently prodding her knee into his thigh in encouragement.

"Ok, well I'd like to think that now I know you and you are one of the few people who know the real me, not the bravado of Derek Morgan, that we could play in the same league….." He paused, "… Right answer?" He said with a smile, although inside he was praying he'd got this one right.

She nodded and repeated his words in her head, _the __real __Derek __Morgan_… She knew the real Derek Morgan was the one who walked to her room tonight, kissed her hand and walked away, presuming nothing of her. The real Derek Morgan was the one who spent every spare waking breath hunting down Ian Doyle and looking out for Declan…. _For__her_.

She smiled, "See….That wasn't so scary was it?".

He turned his body to mirror hers so their faces were a couple of inches apart.

"No…." he whispered, pushing the strand of hair that had fallen across her face, behind her ear. "…. No it wasn't."

He leant in and kissed her gently.

The second time that night was far slower. More intimate. They explored each other as if it were the first time they'd ever seen a naked form.

He worked his way from her neck to her hips, stroking and kissing, taken aback at how small and delicate she suddenly felt. A far cry from his partner in fighting crime.

As her hands roamed his tight, muscular body, she wandered how someone built the way he was could be so gentle. But he was and she loved that it was a stark contrast from their first bout of lovemaking just a few minutes ago.

They had finally crossed that line and as there was no going back, they were making the most of it and eventually, they collapsed as one hot sweaty mass of flesh and drifted off in the darkness of the early hours.

In the morning, Morgan awoke first as the sunlight beamed on his face... He sleepily smiled as he remembered the reason he had forgotten to close the blinds and grateful at the same time as he had also been too busy to set the alarm. He carefully crept out of the bed to shut out the light and then hopped back under the sheet. He turned to face the sleeping brunette next to him. She was lay on her stomach, turned towards him with the sheet just draped below her naked waist.

Morgan stared at her propping himself up on his elbow….. Realisation hit that it was a dangerous game to play, assuming you know what someone else wants, what someone else thinks of you. Hell, they were both guilty of that. He realised he had run the risk of missing out on this. On her… He wandered if they could pull _this_ off. If anything was an incentive to, it was last night… In fact, no, he thought to himself, it was how it made him feel this morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**So originally this was supposed to be a two shot, but I felt like writing another instalment…. So here it is… I hope you like it… **

As Morgan leant down to place the fresh cup of coffee on to the bed side table, he saw Emily's eyes slowly open and squint as she focused her vision on him.

"Morning." He said in a deep, semi cheery voice.

"Morning." She tiredly whispered back, forgetting momentarily that this wasn't their usual morning routine.

"I made you coffee." Morgan muttered, handing her the steaming cup.

She looked him up and down and then pulled the sheet up over her as she sat up, "You showered already?"

"Yep."

"I slept through you showering?" She said surprised, as she was usually such a light sleeper, especially when away on a case.

"Yeah you did….. and through making the coffee..."

She gingerly took a sip of the steaming hot liquid, "Thanks." She uttered.

He looked at her and gave a nervous smile, not sure of what to do next. They continued to just stare at each other in silence, the cold light of the morning giving a different perspective to the night before. The realisation of the line they had crossed started to dawn upon them both.

As Emily wrapped her arm around her belly, Morgan remembered that she was sitting there butt naked, with just the sheet between them.

"I'll give you some space to get changed." He said turning away from her.

"Thanks..."

As he took a step, he heard her laugh softly.

"What you laughing at?" He asked looking back at her puzzled.

"I can guarantee I won't make it across the corridor without someone spotting me in yesterday's clothes and bed hair."

"Bed hair?" Morgan smirked.

"Yes this." She said pointing to her tangled mass of dark locks upon her head.

He chuckled, "Yeah, you do look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards. Can't imagine how that happened."

She couldn't help but smile at him, thankful that he was trying to lighten the mood, even though she knew he was as lost as she was as to what on earth they were supposed to do next.

"I have an idea." He continued.

"What's that?"

"Give me your room key. I'll get your go bag. You can get ready in here. No one will ever know."

"You think _you_ can do that without getting caught?"

"Yeah, I can be sneaky." He said with a wink.

"Really…..? " She smirked, "…My key card is in my jacket pocket."

She went to point to it, but quickly realised she had no idea where it was.

Morgan surveyed the room and spied the jacket in a heap in the corner. He shook his head chuckling as he moved across the room to pick it up.

"What?" She asked watching him crouch down.

The next thing she knew, her bra flew through the air and landed on her lap.

As he stood up he saw her attempt at an unamused face, betrayed by the corners of her mouth curling upwards. He held up the key card, "I'll be right back."

As soon as the door was shut, Emily jumped out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around herself and proceeded to hunt for the rest of her missing clothing, the priority being the matching panties to the bra Morgan had just chucked at her... when she eventually found them underneath the bed, she congratulated herself on packing matching and reasonably presentable underwear for their trip. She rolled them into a ball as she heard the door opening and spun round to face Morgan who was walking toward her, clutching her bag.

"Here you go." He said holding the bag out to her.

She gripped the sheet around her a little tighter and scrunched her other hand more, hiding the material, "Can you just put it down please?"

"Sure"

He reached around her and placed the bag on to the bed. He let his gaze meet hers once again and felt the wave of awkwardness flow through his body, a stark contrast to how natural and easy the night before had felt when they stood in this very position.

The look of bewilderment in her eyes made it clear she wasn't going to offer him any clue as to what to do next.

"I'll…..I'll go so you can get ready. I'll wait in the lobby for you."

She gratefully smiled, "Thanks Mor…... I mean Derek."

The line between work and their personals lives suddenly blurred even more.

"I'll see you in a bit." Morgan said as he turned and began to walk out of the room. But half way to the door he stopped, turned and took a few steps back toward her. Her big brown eyes just bore into his expectantly.

Her eyes widened as he leant in and kissed her briefly on the cheek, making no eye contact as he spun and finally made his way out of the room. He couldn't see it but her smiling eyes bore into his back as he left.

The plane journey back to DC was easy. Morgan slept most of the way, the music playing through his oversized headphones taking him away some place hot and dreamy. Emily on the other hand couldn't sleep. No matter how tired she was on these flights, she could hardly ever manage to nod off. Instead she amused herself playing cards with JJ and Reid….. JJ wondering why she ever bothered to play with those two. Inevitably, she always ended up being out within the first few minutes and then having to watch Emily and Reid's tug of war. Today though, the balance wasn't so even.

~~CM~~

_Back in the bull pen….._

"I think you'll find that was six wins to me Emily and one to you…. what's up with you today?" The boy genius grinned.

JJ sniggered and looked over to Emily who had her head leant on one hand, staring down at the papers in front of her, "Someone overdid it last night I think Spence."

"Just tired JJ. I wasn't drunk." Emily stated, rolling her eyes.

JJ tried to suppress her smirk, but couldn't as she looked up to see who was entering the room, "Here's the other half of your party for two from last night."

"What?" Emily said immediately looking toward the blond.

Emily followed JJ's gaze upward to find Morgan stood the other side of her desk.

"Prentiss, can you come and take a look at this file for the Hamilton case. I just need to cross reference to some of your papers before I give it to Hotch."

"Sure" She said, glad of the excuse to remove herself form the teasing that she was really not in the mood for.

She followed Morgan to his office, but he let her go in first, partially closing the door behind them.

He didn't say a word as he walked round his desk and took a seat, signalling for her to do the same, earning a slightly confused look from Emily.

"Ok, I lied,. I didn't want to talk to you about the case" He started

She looked at him at first, trying to hold a serious gaze, but she couldn't and she smirked, "Yeah I guessed that seeing as we turned it in nearly a week ago."

He smiled back at her, but she immediately saw a twinge of nervousness in him.

"So what do you want to talk about?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows at her, disapprovingly.

"Ok, stupid question I guess," she laughed hesitantly.

He shifted slightly in his seat, "Look I know we probably shouldn't talk about this here, but I do think we should talk about last night at some point right?"

She nodded.

He stared down at the papers on his desk, desperately avoiding her eye contact, "How about I buy you dinner and we can talk then?"

She stared at him, but he couldn't read her at all. Remaining fixed on him for a few seconds, her lips eventually curled up at the sides, "You're supposed to buy me dinner _before_." She said dryly.

It took a few moments, but in tandem, both agents let out a small, but nervous laugh.

"Ok, you got me there." Morgan chuckled, "….So what do you say?"

She paused, "Yeah…" She nodded slowly, "Dinner sounds like a good idea…. When?"

"Tonight?" He said arching his eyebrows in question.

~~CM~~

"Where's Morgan and Prentiss?" The Unit Chief asked JJ and Reid.

"They're just going over the Hamilton file." JJ informed him.

Hotch's brow furrowed, "The Hamilton case? They turned that in a week ago. You must be mistaken."

"No…." Reid stated, "He definitely said Hamilton. I don't mishear things. Besides, usually when someone says they heard something and someone else tells them they've misheard, it's usually wrong... A person's gut instinct is nearly always right. You should definitely go with your gut instinct..."

"Whatever Reid, it really doesn't matter..." Hotch interrupted, "... We have a new case in Milwaukee. JJ can you go and find them. Briefing room straight away."

"Sure." The blond said as she stood up.

JJ stopped just short of the semi open door of Morgan's office. She could hear the muffled voices of her two friends. She tapped lightly and entered, immediately earning their attention.

"Guys we've got a case." JJ stated.

She watched Morgan's eyes close with annoyance and heard him mumble something about 'dinner' under his breath.

"Where is it?" Emily asked.

"Milwaukee."

"You're kidding me? We barely had time to put our go bags down." Morgan sighed.

"I know…." JJ said apologetically. "…..Hotch wants us in the briefing room now."

Morgan and Emily both stood up tiredly, as if they had sand bags weighing them down, and joined JJ. As they all walked out of the room the younger Agent turned to them both, "So did you get the file sorted you were working on?"

Morgan nodded.

"It was the Hamilton case right? That was a tough one."

"Yeah." Emily muttered.

JJ looked between the two agents with a perplexed expression.

"What?" Morgan asked.

She shook her head, "Oh nothing. Come on."

~~CM~~

The near exhaustion had meant that all what Morgan and Emily could focus on for the rest of that day and most of the next was the two dead women, four dead men and the one woman and her child still missing. The team had managed to trace the unsub to a hideout in Rockford, Illinois, just under a hundred miles away. The operation was time sensitive so they could not afford the time to make the journey there themselves. Hotch headed up the operation remotely, advising the local Police Department.

They all stood around the solitary radio, listening in;

The sound of the door being busted open came first, then '_Police. __Stay __where __you __are!_' bellowed in unison from the officers. The screams of a woman, and shouting from a deep male voice, reverberated throughout the room. The Agents looked at one another, everyone knowing how helpless the other felt.

_'Drop __your __weapon __now! __Get __on __the __ground!_' Screamed through the radio, followed by five or six gun shots and more shouting.

The couple of seconds of silence felt like minutes as each Agent held their breath… waiting.

The calm tone of Captain Hardy then echoed throughout the room, "_Agent Hotchner_?"

"Yes Captain. We're here." The Unit Chief responded.

_"The woman and child are safe. Peter Joiner is dead_." Hardy stated.

"Good work Captain. Are they unharmed?"

_"A few cuts and bruises, but other than that they are fine."_

"Thank you for your help Captain. The timing was paramount."

_"No problem Agent. We will finish off here and have Kaleigh and her son bought back to Milwaukee tonight once they have been checked out at the hospital._"

"OK. I will be in touch later."

"Thank god for that." Emily started as soon as the radio was cut off.

"What do we do now?" Reid asked.

"JJ and I will wait for Kaleigh to arrive, but we won't interview her until tomorrow. It will be very late by the time they get back here. There's nothing more we can do until she's interviewed so the rest of you get some sleep. It's been a long few days."

~~CM~~

As much as it went against the grain leaving Hotch and JJ when they were as worn out as everyone else, Emily was glad of the opportunity to finally get some rest. Not that it was proper rest. It never was when they were on a case. There was always something niggling at the back of her mind. But knowing the unsub was dead and Kaleigh and her son were ok, helped her to relax a little more than usual.

Just about to pull her shirt over her head, Emily heard a light tap at her door.

"Morgan?" She smiled as she opened it and saw him standing there holding up a large brown bag with one finger.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Sure." She said standing to one side, "What's in the bag?"

He walked over to the bed and pulled something out of the bag, Emily attempting to look around him to see what he was fumbling with. He whipped his hands out in front of him and a chequered picnic blanket spread out across the bed.

"What _are_ you doing?" Emily laughed.

He briefly turned to look at her and went back to work on the bag, "I promised you dinner and this really isn't what I had in mind, but I have no idea when we will have the time…."

"I guess that's going to be one of the drawbacks." Emily interrupted.

Morgan stopped what he was doing and turned to face her, taking a sluggish breath before speaking, "So….. What do you want to do?" He asked hesitantly.

She tilted her head around him to look at the bag and then retuned her gaze to him, "I want to eat whatever it is in that bag. And correct me if I'm wrong, but from the smell, I believe that is beef in oyster sauce."

He chuckled and nodded his head.

"See, you know my favourite Chinese food. That's one of the advantages."

He arched an eyebrow at her, "Advantages?"

"Yeah…" She said side stepping him and climbing onto the bed, sitting on it cross legged. "… You already know so much about me. Can you imagine trying to get to know someone new when you only get to see them every couple of weeks."

"On the contrary Emily, I think there's a whole lot of stuff I don't know about you."

She looked at him and smiled, patting the bed with her palm, "Come on. Sit….. This is gonna get cold."

They sat in silence for a few moments as they lay the food out on the blanket. Morgan looked up to Emily as he opened the last tub of fried rice, "So… I guess we should talk about what we're going to do."

He watched as her smile disappeared and she blatantly avoided his eye contact.

"Look Emily, if you don't want to do this, just say now. It's fine…."

Her eyes darted from the bed to meet his, "No, I do. It's just…."

She paused.

"Just what?" He asked a little tiredly.

"It's just complicated isn't it? I mean it's against the rules for starters, which means we can't tell any of our friends."

"I know…" He uttered gently, "…. Look, I have no idea where this could take us. How about we worry about all that later on…. when we know where it's going?"

"Am I making this more difficult than it really is?" She asked, the uncertainty in her voice apparent.

"No…. Not at all. I have no idea how we will do this either, but I do know I want to try."

He stared at her with almost sad eyes in anticipation of her answer.

After a few moments, she gave him a sweet, almost apologetic smile, "Me too..."

There was tension in the air... But good tension. Both of them a little scared of what they were about to embark upon.

Emily was the first to shake them out of the moment by picking up one of the plastic forks and scooping up a piece of beef. Just before she took a bite, she let a small laugh escape her lips.

"What?" Morgan asked, automatically smiling back to her.

"We've already broken a rule."

"Rule? What rule?"

"Well I was thinking, if we're going to do this, there has to be some rules right?"

"You already thought about rules?" He replied sceptically.

"Firstly, there should be no funny business when we're away on a case."

Morgan laughed, "Funny business? You mean like the other night?"

"Yep."

"And is _this_ funny business?" He said pointing to the feast between them.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess if we class it as a date, then yes."

"Ok… We won't class it as a date. But I do agree. Separate rooms when we're away on a case."

They both took a bite of the beef in unison, Morgan's foot tapping away on the bed.

"What's up?" Emily asked between mouthfuls.

"Seeing as the unsub is lying on a slab somewhere…." He started with cheekiness in his eyes , "… How about we start these rules when we get back to D.C?"

Emily shook her head, unable to subdue her smirk, "You say the most romantic things Derek."

"Hey, you want romantic? I can do romantic….. Just not here."

"I dunno…" She smiled, "…. this is quite romantic."

He stared into her big brown eyes and did the only thing that felt natural at that moment. He leant over the food and kiss her gently on the lips. Pulling away barely an inch, he whispered to her "Technically, I know that was a rule break and we're not doing too good with these rules at the moment, but I want you to know that I do way more romantic than this…. If we ever get some time off that is."

"I look forward to it… So on to these rules…."

He chuckled and pulled away from her, holding his hands up in surrender, "Ok, no more, I promise."

He saw the smile first in her eyes and then watched as her lips formed into a disappointed pout.

Shaking his head, he groaned, "Gees Emily, don't tempt me…."

"This is going to be really tough isn't it?" She chuckled.

"Yeah…." He winked to her, "But something tells me it's going to be a lot of fun at the same time….."


End file.
